Nestled in the hills edge on the outskirts of Mudgee, Montrose is the region’s pre-eminent winery. Situated at over 500 metres and with soils of ancient red clay loam of volcanic origin, the Montrose vineyards deliver distinctive high quality grapes that with careful nurturing create wines of outstanding varietal character, complexity and balance. Montrose was established in 1974 by Carlo Salteri and Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, Italian engineers with a love of fine wine. During the 1980’s the intensely flavoured and deeply coloured Montrose Shiraz was called “Black” Shiraz by its fans. Over the years it has won numerous awards and accolades and is now widely regarded to be one of the region’s greatest red wines. In the early 1990s Montrose pioneered Australian Chardonnay internationally, having the number-one selling Chardonnay in the USA – a reflection of Mudgee’s early adoption and success with the variety. Meanwhile, Montrose winemakers developed the multi-award winning Stony Creek Chardonnay – noteworthy for its terrific structure and extraordinary ability to age. Today, as the region’s largest winery, Montrose combines traditional winemaking techniques with state-ofthe-art technology and equipment to produce exemplary regional wines under the custodianship of the Oatley family.